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1905 World Series
The 1905 World Series matched the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Athletics, with the Giants winning 4 games to 1. Each of the five games was a shutout. Three of those, over a six-day span, were pitched and won by Christy Mathewson, a 25-year-old Giants hurler who established himself as a first-magnitude star in doing so. Records: New York Giants (W: 105, L: 48, Pct: .686, GA: 9) - Philadelphia Athletics (W: 92, L: 56, Pct: .622, GA: 2) Managers: Connie Mack (Philadelphia), John McGraw (New York) Umpires: Jack Sheridan (AL), Hank O'Day (NL) Summary NL New York Giants (4) vs AL Philadelphia Athletics (1) Matchups Game 1 October 9, 1905 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania A pitcher's duel took place between Christy Mathewson and Eddie Plank. Both pitchers got out of jams and were able to shut the offense down. In the Giants top of the 5th, Mathewson singled, but was forced by Roger Bresnahan, who stole second shortly afterwards. After George Browne popped out, Mike Donlin singled to left, scoring Bresnahan and Donlin advanced to second. After Dan McGann walked, Sam Mertes doubled, bringing home Donlin. In the Athletics half of the 6th, Ossee Schreckengost doubled, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. However, he would not score, and remained the lone runner to reach third base against Mathewson in the entire World Series. The Giants added an insurance run in the 9th, when Billy Gilbert scored on a single by Bresnahan. Christy Mathewson pitched the first of three complete game shutouts in this game. Game 2 October 10, 1905 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York The Athletics called on Chief Bender to turn the tables on the Giants. His opponent was 21 game winner Joe McGinnity. The game was silent until the top of the 3rd. Ossee Schreckengost led off by reaching on an error by Dan McGann. Bender sacrificed, moving Schreckengost to second. After a ground out by Topsy Hartsel moved Schreckengost to third, Bris Lord singled to left and put an unearned run on the board for the A's. The slim margin held until the top of the 8th, where the A's looked to add more crooked numbers to the board. With one out, Schreckengost once again was the catalyst, as he singled to center field. Hartsel's double scored Schreckengost all the way from first, and a single by Lord brought Hartsel home, making it 3-0 in favor of the A's. There was little the Giants could do, as Bender continued to cruise and got out of late inning jams to pitch a complete game shutout and tie the Series at 1 game a piece. Game 3 October 12, 1905 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Christy Mathewson once again took the mound for Game 3. Opposing him this time was Andy Coakley. In a Series of so few runs, a turnabout took place. In the top of the 1st, Roger Bresnahan was hit by the pitch to lead off. A single to right by Mike Donlin moved Bresnahan to third with one out. Dan McGann then singled to right to bring Bresnahan home. An error by Danny Murphy allowed Donlin to score and also allowed Sam Mertes to reach base. After Bill Dahlen walked, Coakley now faced a bases loaded, one out situation down by 2 with Art Devlin batting. However, Coakley induced the double play, and the A's had a chance to come back. But, in the top of the 5th, the Giants proved the game belonged to them. Bresnahan walked with one out and George Browne singled, but moved to second on the throw to third base. Donlin was walked intentionally, setting up the double play. But things continued to crumble for Coakley and the A's. McGann reached on another error by Danny Murphy, reloading the bases and scoring a run. Mertes singled, reloading the bases and scoring another run. A force by Bill Dahlen at second allowed Donlin to score. After Dahlen stole second, Devlin singled, bringing home McGann. When Devlin stole second, Dahlen took advantage of the situation and scored from third. Obruptly, the outburst came to an end. Even though the Giants led by 7 and Mathewson was pitching beautifully for them, they made two more runs happen in the 9th, when McGann doubled home Browne and Donlin. Mathewson pitched his second complete game shutout, giving the Giants a 2 games to 1 lead in the Series. Game 4 October 13, 1905 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York Eddie Plank returned for the A's to face Joe McGinnity in Game 4. Both pitchers kept men in scoring position from scoring early on, and they held fast to a shutout until the bottom of the 4th. Sam Mertes led off the inning by reaching on an error by Monte Cross. After Bill Dahlen flied to right, Art Devlin grounded out, moving Mertes to second. With two outs, Billy Gilbert singled to left, bringing Mertes home. This one run remained the only run of the game, as McGinnity outdueled Plank 1-0. The Giants now led 3 games to 1. Game 5 October 14, 1905 at the Polo Grounds in New York, New York The Giants looked to wrap up the Series behind the perrenial Christy Mathewson, who would be facing Chief Bender in this game. The game was locked at 0-0 until the bottom of the 5th, where Sam Mertes scored before a bizarre double play was induced that involved Bill Dahlen and Billy Gilbert. In the 8th, the Giants sought insurance, and received an insurance run when Mathewson scored on a ground out by George Browne after Roger Bresnahan doubled. Mathewson wrapped up the Series by inducing three ground outs in the top of the 9th, thereby completing perhaps the single greatest performance by any player in World Series history. Mathewson pitched his third complete game shutout, which, in modern times, can never be duplicated. Composite Box 1905 World Series (4-1): New York Giants (N.L.) over Philadelphia Athletics (A.L.) Firsts and records * This was the first World Series to be played under a best-of-seven format. The 1903 World Series used a best-of-nine game format. * The Philadelphia Athletics became the first team to lose a World Series game on an unearned run 1-0. * It was the first Series which consisted entirely of complete-game shutouts. Only one reliever was used the entire Series: Red Ames came in to relieve Joe McGinnity in the ninth inning of Game 2. * The New York Giants yielded no earned runs in this Series, and set a mathematically unbreakable record for lowest team ERA of 0.00. Reference(s) Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 9-12) External links * 1905 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com * [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1905 1905 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] * 1905 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com * 1905 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org Category:World Series Category:Philadelphia Athletics Category:New York Giants (baseball) Category:Postseason series Category:1900s Category:1905